Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) Episode 6 review; Wuthering Heights and what comes after.

 

       This episode begins on the day of the big play, Fumi and her friends work the reception desk, and we get a pretty funny scene showing Akira trying to hide from her parents and her brother. Then we see how all the actors get ready for their stage performances by putting on makeup and so forth. The front desk crew notices that some programs of the first play were mixed in with their stuff so Fumi volunteers to run them over to the elementary school kids.

 

       As Fumi’s heading over to drop off the stuff she runs into Yasuko and they talk about how fate had them cross paths, Fumi tells Yasuko that she’ll watch her from the main audience, and she promises to meet Yasuko right after the pay is over. Then we see Akira spending some time with her family at the school’s cafe.  After Fumi drops off the stuff we see that she heads over to a flower shop to get a bouquet of flowers for Yasuko, but little does she know that many bouquets of flowers have been dropped off by Yasuko’s fans.

       Fumi makes it back to the auditorium by the end of the elementary school play and sits down with her friends. As the middle school play is going on we see the high school students continue to prepare back stage for their performance, and we see that Akira helps Yasuko with her makeup and hair.

 

     The high school play starts, and we’re treated to the acting on stage and the behind the curtain actions like costume and prop changes. While Yasuko’s off stage she has a conversation with Kyoko about her opinion of the Catherine character from the play, Kyoko tells her that she thinks that Catherine’s selfish, and Yasuko tells her that everyone is selfish. Well, Yasuko goes back on stage and finishes up the final scenes of the play, and when it’s over the whole cast gets a standing ovation.

        When Fumi’s friends look for her during the curtain call they find her seat empty because Fumi is rushing backstage to give Yasuko the flowers she bought for her. Back in the dressing room Kagami is congratulating all the girls for a job well done, and he gives special praise to Yasuko for her acting job, Yasuko tears up after hearing the praise. Yasuko’s tears cause a stir among the other actors, and we see that Fumi observed the whole scene from the doorway.

 

       After everything has finished up Fumi and Yasuko sit outside and have a little chat where Yasuko tells Fumi that she saw something strange. Fumi say no, not at all, she’s goes on to say that she realises that Yasuko has another person that she also likes. Yasuko asks her if she wants to know? No, I don’t want to know, but it’s eating me up inside. Yasuko tells Fumi that it’s all in the past now, but I loved them and they loved me, that’s it. Yasuko tells Fumi that starting tomorrow she’ll be running the basketball club so would you like to come and watch me? Yes. Yasuko tells Fumi it’s time to go, she offers Fumi her hand and they get up and leave together.

 

      Wow, Ive got to say that I thought this was one hell of an episode, probably the best one of  the series so far. I really loved all the little touches that were included in the episode; Akira trying to dodge her parents and brother was pretty funny, as was her brother complaining about have to wear a suit to the play, and it was also pretty funny how Akira and her mother got into discussing Wuthering Heights while her father and brother didn’t get it. Watching Akira’s mother having to wake her son up after he dozes off during the first two plays was pretty funny too (I have had the exact same thing happen to me in the past when going to see stuff my younger brother and sister were in).

      I also loved how Fumi has started to mature since the beginning of the series. When we first met Fumi in episode one she was very emotionally unstable, shaky, and fairly fragile after being shocked by the news that her cousin who was her first lover was getting married and had to break off her relationship with Fumi. From that first episode to now, Fumi has gained the maturity and self-confidence to tell her best friend that she’s a lesbian and dating Yasuko, and Fumi also showed the courage to tell Yasuko that while she doesn’t want to know about the “other” its eating her up. I think that Fumi can relate very well to Yasuko’s emotional situation; Fumi’s also felt the painful sting of losing a first love. The Fumi from the first episode might have just ran away after seeing Yasuko’s reaction to Kagami’s words but this Fumi is now much stronger.

       I also felt that the little conversation that Yasuko had with Kyoko about Catherine’s character from Wuthering Heights was quite illuminating about both of their natures and maturity levels. While, Kyoko’s answer that Catherine is selfish is quite understandable it highlights her portrayal as being quick to judge a situation with little introspection, and Yasuko response that everyone is selfish shows why they can’t be together. Yasuko needs a more introspective/quiet thinking partner and Fumi’s a much better match for her.

       Well, I look forward to watching future episodes of Aoi Hana to see how Fumi’s and Yasuko’s relationship continues to develop, and I also look forward to seeing maybe a little more development of Kyoko’s back-story.